I *think* this might be a scam... :\

My partner and I are looking for an apartment, and I found what seemed to be the perfect one on Padmapper. Within our budget, close to everything we needed, pet friendly, and absolutely gorgeous. So I contacted the person and got this response:

Hello,

The apartment (2bed/2bath) at [redacted], Canada is still available. Everything is just like in the pictures fully equipped with all the appliances you need, very clean and well kept. The apartment can be rented furnished or unfurnished. I work as a chemical engineer in petroleum production and the company I work for has a new project in United Kingdom for the next 6 years. I already signed a job contract so the apartment will be available for renting for minimum 6 years. The apartment is vacant so you can move-in anytime you want.

The rent of 965$/month is for the whole apartment, utilities included and full access to all the building amenities. The apartment is insured but just in case repairs are needed I will cover the costs no worries. I would like to know how many people will live in the apartment and also which rental contract do you prefer to start with - 6 months or 1 year with option of renewal. The price I'm asking is below the market because I want to find a responsible tenant to take good care of the place. I have a Canadian Bank account for the monthly payments, or we can use any other payment method that is suitable for you.

I'm the owner of the apartment, it's already paid in full and no mortgage on it. Schools and groceries are near-by. You have everything you need because it's one of the best neighbourhood in the area. Pets are allowed. You'll love it for sure!

It's the first time I'm renting an apartment so I prefer to use services of a professional property management company to make all the necessary arrangements and this way I'm sure both of us will be satisfied.

I need to know if you are really interested in the place so I can talk with my family and move foward with the process.

So I responded that it would be my partner and I, and that the lease would be one year. I asked for the link to the padmapper listing again, as I couldn't find it and got this as a response:

Hi again,

I discussed with my wife and we agree to rent the apartment to you. I already signed an agreement with Airbnb Management (www.airbnb.com) to make all the necessary arrangements for you to view the apartment before signing the lease agreement and sending the payment to me as a landlord. I will cover the transaction and delivery fees. I will proceed with the rental transaction ONLY if you agree with the terms and conditions of Airbnb Management.

To avoid any misunderstanding I will provide with all the steps of this transaction through Airbnb Management.

I NEED TO BE SURE THAT EVERYTHING IS CLEAR FOR YOU SO PLEASE READ CAREFULLY ALL THE STEPS OF THE TRANSACTION BECAUSE I CAN NOT CHANGE THEIR TERMS AND CONDITIONS. ALSO I WILL PAY FOR THE TRANSACTION AND DELIVERY FEES AND JUST IN CASE YOU CHANGE YOUR MIND I WILL NOT RECEIVE A REFUND FROM THEM!

Airbnb Management are already in custody of the keys and all the necessary documents. The ownership is already confirmed with the building management from Canada and also with a Real Estate Professional Department in London, United Kingdom. They just need my approval and your information so they can proceed with the transaction.

-You need to provide me your contact details: full name, mailing address (street, number, city and postal code), cell phone number, move-in date and duration of lease preferred (e.g. 6 months or 1 year rental contract with option of renewal). The lease agreement will be a standard one from the Canadian government.

I will inform Airbnb Management that I approve the rental transaction.

Airbnb Management will send you a notification(via email) with the transaction details, delivery details and payment information

You need to send the amount of 1300$( 1st month rent from the rental contract + damage deposit-refundable in the last month of rent from contract) to the the Airbnb Management ESCROW ACCOUNT, provided to you in the notification. THE PAYMENT NEEDS TO BE SENT WITHIN 24 BUSINESS HOURS AFTER YOU WILL RECEIVE THE TRANSACTION DETAILS OR ELSE THEY WILL CHARGE ME AN ADDITIONAL FEE.

After the payment is completed you need to send the payment details to Airbnb Management.

Airbnb Management will check the payment confirmation and start the shipping procedure through UPS Air Cargo.

You will receive the package (keys, apartment documents and lease agreement) in 3 business days. After the keys will be delivered at your address you will have 5 business days (inspection time) to check the apartment. The inspection time will start from the moment you will be at the building.

If you decide to keep the apartment you just need to sign the lease agreement and Airbnb Management can release the funds to me. If you don`t want to keep the apartment you will receive a full payment refund including any payment fee.

Please note that Airbnb Management can NOT release the funds without your approval. You will have full control of the payment. They can release the payment to me as a landlord just after they will receive the lease agreement with your signature.

Using Airbnb Management involves three parties: me as owner, you as a potential tenant and Airbnb Management as a responsible third party authorized to handle this transaction. Airbnb Management works the same way as the escrow account on which you place the deposit when you rent an apartment, except that instead of a bank, we use Airbnb Management.

I can NOT rent the apartment any other way because the building management has strict rules about renting private properties and they strongly recommend me to use a professional property management company.

You can reach me any time at: [redacted] (if you are calling from Canada you need to dial [redacted] ) or you can email me with your number and I can give you a call so we can discuss about this.

Let me know if you have the funds available (1300CAD$) so we can move forward and e-mail me your full information I requested.

Ok, so firstly, I'm NOT going to send a wire transfer... mostly I want to help get this guy caught if he is a scammer. I can't find the listing on padmapper anymore... anyone else have experience with this sort of thing?

I'm using my actual email for this, so I'm probably not going to troll him though that.

I just received almost this EXACT email. The price was way too good to be true, grammar is a little off... He later responded that we'd be handling payments through Airbnb... I found this listing on apartments.com and contacted him about it, but the apartment he emailed me back about was completely different. I think it's safe to say this is a scam :(

Hello,

The apartment at [redacted] is still available. Everything is just like in the pictures fully equipped with all the appliances you need, very clean and well kept. The apartment can be rented furnished or if you want you can use your furniture and deposit mine in the storage unit. I work as civil engineer and the company I work for has developed projects all around the world. They moved me to the United Kingdom department because they have a new project there. The apartment is vacant so you can move-in anytime you want.

The rent of 900$/month is for the whole apartment and includes all the utilities: heat, water, electricity, parking, laundry in-suite, washer and dryer also included, cable and internet. You will have full access to all building amenities. Just in case repairs are needed there I will cover the costs no worries. The price I'm asking is below the market because I want to find a responsible tenant to take good care of the place.

I would like to know how many people will live in the apartment and also which rental contract do you prefer to start with - 6 months or 1 year with option of renewal. The monthly payments can be wired to my Bank Account or we can setup a payment method that is suitable for both of us.

I'm the owner of the apartment, it's already paid in full and no mortgage on it. Schools and groceries near-by. You have everything you need near-by because it's one of the best neighborhood. Pets are allowed. You'll love it for sure!

I need to know if you are really interested in the place so we can discuss further.

Thank you and look forward hearing from you! Michael

PS: I attached you all the pictures that I have with the apartment (as you can see everything is in absolutely perfect condition).

Airbnb Management has great services and they are really professional. I can access the funds just after Airbnb Management have your final answer about the transaction. If u refuse to keep the apt you will receive a full refund from them... Also I can NOT change their terms and conditions regarding the rental transaction so I need your confirmation that I can proceed with the transaction according with the steps I've explained you in my last email. Therefore you will see the apartment after you will receive the keys. Thank you for understanding!

I'm contemplating being like "I'm still hesitant... could you possibly send a picture of yourself with a banana on your head while holding a local newspaper (or something ridiculous like that), so I can confirm that you are who you say you are?"

This didn't really address the confirming thing though. Alternatively could you send a picture of yourself holding a paper with the current date hand written and Nicholas Cage's face? (I know it's random, but there are likely no other pictures like that, so I can be sure it's genuine.)

As I've said, I haven't rented a place like this before, so I would feel a lot more comfortable going forwards knowing you're who you say you are.

I got this EXACT same email, word for word. I found 2 posts from the same person in Toronto, going under 2 different names. One was a studio apartment and the other was a 2 bed/2 bath. Both way too good to be true, saying the same things. Them realizing I was emailing their two separate postings, they switched up the wording but initially saying the same things - going through "Airbnb Management", working in the UK, needing the money first, etc. etc. Found it on Padmapper too and I reported it to them.